


Astounding X-Men, vol. 1 #004: Aftermath

by Murf1307



Series: Astounding X-Men! [5]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Cold War, Emotional Labor, Gen, Hank the Doomsday Prepper, Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Post Beach Divorce, Post-Cuba, heavy on the comfort, well references to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:12:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Erik and Raven leave, the others have to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Astounding X-Men, vol. 1 #004: Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> cover art by ron iowaste on tumblr!

     Sean watches as the Hellfire Club — now led _by Erik_  — vanishes from the beach, red smoke slowly fading after them.

     Well.  This is bad.  

     He cradles his bad arm and considers what’s going on.  The biggest concern, right now, at least for him, is _how are they getting off of Cuba?_

     Distracting him from this massively important question is the fact that Angel and Darwin are talking to each other.  She looks — she looks on the verge of tears, from what he can see, and she’s hurt, thanks to Alex.

     Darwin says something to her, and she nods, and looks over at the group of them, him and Alex and Hank, and starts coming over to them.

     Sean swallows a little, not sure how to respond to that.

     But then, Shaw had been a manipulative asshole, hadn’t he?  He can probably forgive her for leaving, if she even needs to be forgiven for something like that.

     He’s just glad they’re all still alive.

     “Hey, Angel,” he says, giving her a little bit of a smile.

     “Sean?”  She looks horrified, for a moment, at the condition they’re all in, before she smooths her face over, back to practiced calm.  “Are you —"

     “Nah, but I’ll be fine."

     Hank is bandaging Alex’s bleeding chest, but Hank himself looks about ready to drop.

     The adrenaline, all around, is starting to fade.  Everyone’s in pain.  Everyone’s hurting, and Sean winces a little when he jostles his arm the wrong way.

Nobody notices that Darwin’s walked up to the group until he speaks.

“Charles — Charles says he can’t feel his legs."

The silence in the wake of that sentence is more deafening than one of Sean’s screams.  There’s a long, painful beat of it, and then Alex shoves Hank’s shoulder.  Hank jerks, and then seems to get the picture; he gets up and almost runs over to where Charles and Moira are still curled up together.

Darwin exhales, and sits down on the sand.  Out of all of them, of course he’s the only one who isn’t injured.

Sean looks over at Angel, exhaling a little himself.  “How’s your wing?"

“Hurts,” she says.  “But — I’ll deal with it."

He nods, and that’s really that.

Alex is sitting upright again, still bleeding, only half-bandaged.  He lets out a little, mirthless laugh.

“That sure as fuck coulda gone better,” he says, drawing all of their attention.

Darwin snorts.  “Shut up, hotshot."

“At least nobody but Shaw died,” Sean points out.

A murmur of agreement ripples around the group of them.  It’s sad, really it is, that that’s something that they all have to take comfort in.

Darwin moves over to Alex and starts re-bandaging the slash across his chest.  Sean can’t help but notice a strange tension between them — as if something is going unsaid, or they’re doing that strange silent communication thing they’ve perfected over the last few months.

Whatever it is, he hopes it’s enough. 

 

* * *

 

As soon as they get back to the mansion, late in the evening thanks to the fact that the jet was wrecked, Moira wheels Charles to the stairs.

"Hank?" She asks, only a little unsettled.  "Could you...?"

"Moira, I'm not going to break if you admit I can't get up the stairs unassisted," Charles says, and sounds exhausted.

Hank immediately moves over to the stairs and picked Charles up.  Sean watches, exhausted himself, and has to admit that Moira's reticence had a point to it -- Charles is _paralyzed_ , and even if Charles is as hardy as he seems, emotionally, that _is_ kind of huge.

When the three of them head upstairs -- Moira followed Hank and Charles -- Darwin turns to the rest of them.

"We should all get some sleep," he says.  "It's been a hell of a day."

Nobody moves.  

The implication -- that going to sleep means going back to their rooms, _alone_ \-- is clearly not something anyone wants to do.

"You really sure it's a good idea?" Sean asks.  "I mean, being alone."

He's the one to say it, but he knows, sure as anything, that everybody's thinking it.

"Right," Angel says, and while she still seems unsure to be back here, as though she doesn't belong, she's the one who gives the best idea of the night: "Maybe -- maybe we could all sleep in the same room?"

"Definitely," Alex says, firmly.  "I think -- I think that's a really good plan."

"I agree," Sean adds.

Darwin nods.  "I like that idea."  He considers the situation.  "All right, let's all split up, gather some blankets and pillows off our beds, and meet back up in the TV room?"

There's a general murmur of assent, and they split up -- or, rather, Alex and Darwin go off together, leaving Sean and Angel alone in the main hall of the house.  Angel doesn't have a room here yet, after all.

"C'mon," Sean says, "I can get us into Hank's."

She nods.  "Okay."

The two of them are quiet on the way to Sean's room, and Sean, on a breath of understanding, gently bumps his shoulder against Angel's.  "Hey," he says, quietly.

She freezes for a second.  "...What?"

"We all missed you, y'know," he confesses.

That surprises her, clearly.  "You think?"

"Uh-huh."

Soon enough after that, they're loaded down with pillows and blankets, and Sean leads her back to the study with the TV in it, where Alex and Darwin are already piling stuff up on the floor.

Sean smiles when Darwin's hand gently lands on Angel's shoulder as he directs her where to drop stuff -- he has a feeling Angel's going to need that kind of reassurance for a while.

Alex is the first to give up on fluffing pillows and blankets and couch cushions, and so is the first to drop onto the makeshift nest.

He groans, and there's only a tinge of pain.

Angel laughs, and then breaks off, surprised at herself.

Alex grins at her, and Darwin grins at both of them.

Sean isn't surprised by any of it, to be honest, and hopes that this, too, will help.

God knows, they all need to take care of each other, now, with everything they've seen and done today.

He sits down as well, and soon, Darwin and Angel join them.

Immediately, Alex and Darwin bracket Angel, which surprises her, clearly, but doesn't seem to _bother_  her.  She puts her head on Darwin's shoulder, and Alex murmurs something to both of them that Sean can't quite hear.

Sean himself stretches out on his own, still sticking nearby them, but giving them the space that maybe they might need just for themselves.

Moira and Hank arrive soon after, and Moira smiles at them.

"Figured it wasn't a good idea to be alone tonight," Sean said, shrugging a little and leaning up.  "So get over here, big guy."

Hank visibly flusters, which is honestly kind of adorable, and sits down on the edge of the nest.

"C' _mon_ , Beast," Alex mutters, already muzzy and half-asleep.  "You're like a blanket all on your own.  Y'can at least _share_."

Moira laughs at that.  Sean just grins and tugs at Hank.

Hank goes with it, allowing himself to get manhandled into position -- Sean stretches out with his head on Hank's chest -- and just mumbles, "Okay."

Sean rolls over, and he rests his chin on Hank's chest.  "Gotta take care of each other," he says.

"Yeah," Hank agrees.

Sean just doesn't last long after that, especially not when Hank wraps an arm around him.

 

* * *

 

It's about a week later when Sean can't sleep again.  For the most part, people have figured out ways to get at least a little sleep on their own again, but tonight it just won't come for him.

Sighing, he eventually crawls out of bed and heads into the hall.  Maybe a walk will clear his head some, and he'll be able to to get some sleep.

When he comes to the TV room, where the nest is still set up from the night they all came back, and the TV is on, just showing static and snow.  Moira is draped across the couch, still awake, but she looks exhausted.  

Sean walks over to her.  He's worried, of course he is -- Moira does so much for all of them, and if she's not okay, they owe it to her to take care of her in return.

"Hey..." she murmurs, giving him a soft lopsided smile.  "You okay, kid?"

"Can't sleep," he admits.  "You?"

"Same thing."  She sighs.  "You really should be trying to get some rest.  Especially with that broken arm."

He shrugs and sits down next her.  "Hey, you nearly got strangled to death."

She laughs, just a little, and he smiles at her.

"I'm fine," she murmurs.

He raises his eyebrows.  "You sure about that?"

"I need to be."

"No you don't."  Sean looks at her, suddenly serious.  "Moira, you do so much for all of us.  Hell, between you and Darwin, I think you two are the ones keeping the rest of us afloat."

She sighs.  "That's why I need to be okay."

He shakes his head.  "No, it means that we need to take care of you, too.  We owe you that."

"I'm fine."

"...Okay.  Please, just, take care of yourself, too?  Not just us and Charles."

Her next smile is kind of sad.  "I...I'm not really sure how to do that," she admits.  

"Then let us help."

She reaches over and ruffles his hair.  "Thanks, Sean.  I'll...I'll keep it in mind."

 

* * *

 

Hank has holed up in his office, and Sean is  _sure_  that isn't healthy.

Angel spends a lot of time with Moira, and Alex and Darwin are, as to be expected, pretty much inseparable, which means Sean doesn't really have much to do with the four of them occupied.  Charles keeps to himself, too, but Sean isn't going to touch that trauma with a ten foot pole -- he'll leave that up to Moira and Darwin.

They're way better at it, anyway.

So Sean heads to Hank's lab and knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" came Hank's voice, and he sounds exhausted.

"Sean," he calls back.  "Can I come in?"

"Door's open."  Not just exhausted.   _Miserable._

Sean opens the door and slips inside.  Hank is perched on a stool that looks too small for him, staring down at blueprints.

"Hey," he says.  "Haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm fine," Hank says, as if to cut through the bullshit.  "There's just...so much work to do."

Sean cocks his head to the side.

"Moira's going to have to go back to the CIA someday.  We're going to have to protect ourselves when that happens."  Hank lets out a shuddery sigh.  

"What do you mean?"

Hank looks up at him, finally.  "You know I used to work for them.  Did you ever wonder why I wound up in the 'crazy' compound?"

"No."  It just hadn't occurred to him.

"I had ethical objections to the work they wanted me to do," he said, quietly.  "It was...chemical, in nature."

Sean frowns.  "Like drugs?"

"Mind control drugs, to be precise.  Truth serums.  I didn't want to do it."

"You think they'd use that on Moira?"

"I don't doubt it."  Hank exhales shakily.  "They were willing to kill her to kill us back in Cuba.  They want us _dead_ , Sean."

It's a terrifying prospect.

"So I need to be prepared.  This house needs...it needs to be safe.  And it's not, yet.  It's only safe because no one knows where we are."  Hank gestures for him to come over, so he does.

The blueprints are for a sub-basement, and another jet, and a series of gargoyle-type statues that shoot fire.  Beyond that, a system of tunnels leading out into the woods surrounding the house.

Beyond that, something that looks like a hollow, spherical room.

"That's Cerebro.  A new model.  So we'll know when they're coming, if I can convince Charles to occasionally monitor it, or come up with a way to replicate what his mind does."

"Shit," Sean says, quietly.

Hank nods.  "I won't let them kill us.  At the very least, I want them to suffer for trying."

Sean nods and, quietly, leans against Hank's shoulder.

It's a lot to imagine, but if anyone can do it, it's Hank.

Sean is sure of that.

 

* * *

 

It's about a month past Cuba when Charles seems to emerge from his cocoon.  

The rest of them are curled up in the nest, watching television, because it feels like there's nothing else to do -- or they're all too tired to do anything.

There are days like that, since Cuba.

Charles stops in the doorway.

"I have an announcement to make," he says, and there's a hint of the old Charles in his eyes, which is...comforting, oddly enough.

Hank shifts, as though he already knows what it's going to be.

Darwin exhales.  So he knows, too.

"I want to start a school"

Alex is the first to react.  "A school?  For what?"

"For people like us, hotshot," Darwin says, quietly. 

It's a statement followed by silence.  Sean looks at Angel, who looks back at him.  It's clear that neither of them know how to react.

"We need a safe space.  When -- because it's a _when_ , not an _if_ \-- the world finds out about mutants, they'll be in danger out there."  Hank takes a deep breath.  "And we can't leave kids vulnerable like that."

Charles nods.  "Exactly."

Somehow, Sean can't help but feel uneasy.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are. The end of the first story arc of Astounding X-Men! Thank you to everyone who's followed along, and I hope it's lived up to your expectations.
> 
> I'm not sure if issue 5 will be coming out in precisely two weeks, or if it might take three, because I have to finish plotting out the next couple of arcs of the story. Either way, this is only just the beginning.
> 
> Some things to look out for, in the next few months: 
> 
> \- the Juggernaut!  
> \- Deadly Genesis!  
> \- Unus the Untouchable!  
> \- Black Tom Cassidy!  
> \- and Alex has a secret that someone in the Brotherhood knows all about!


End file.
